Friday, April 29, 2016

Systems Thinkers shape a worldview based on the realization of interconnectedness.System Intelligence (SI) and System Thinking (ST) are well be considered emergent properties of the complex adaptive system we call the human mind. Systems Thinking seeks to observe a system such as the organizations from outside. It encourages the observer to see himself or herself as part of the system, to put it simply, Systems Thinking is to understand the relationship between the parts and the whole, it is an outside-in perspective of interconnectivity and interdependence within a system or even cross systems. Digital organization today is a hyperconnected and interdependent system, thus, ST becomes a more critical thought process to make effective decisions and solve complex business problems. It is still an only small percentage of the population who are equipped with a “Systems Mind” to applying Systems Intelligence for problems solving or decision making, is it possible for 'anyone' to "think systems"? Which questions should you ask to assess a person’s Systems Thinking ability?

Are you a holistic thinker who can think up a level to abstract the wisdom via in-depth understanding of things? Systems Thinking by definition is a cognitive process (thinking), a profound thinking process to embrace holism and nonlinearity. Systems Thinking is the ability to navigate levels of abstraction or logic as an essential thinking skill for STers. Systems Thinking is a way of understanding complexity; to transposing another term, 'systems,' put an emphasis on 'a way.' It is a descriptive term for an object or an experience. From a personal perspective, there’s observable behavioral change in focus from 'better understanding of solutions' to 'better understanding of problems' in an attempt to address perceived increase in system complexity, a tangible recognition that success is a holistic endeavor that needs collaboration and continuous learning.

Are you a balanced thinker who can see the connection between the parts and the whole? Systems thinking is often equated with balanced thinking. Systems Thinking can also be defined as putting on the foreground relations and on the background the components of these relations. ST has to do with the ability to see the whole, and the relationships between parts within those wholes, and to grasp the complexity - deal with nonlinear questions that have the contingent and flexing answers as the conditions change. Systems Thinking engenders new actions as part of the process of creating cross-disciplined understanding. There is a big increase in a cross-silo, cross-discipline, and continuous exploration. What is powerful about Systems Thinking is that it’s concerned with wholes changes of the scope, thereby engendering new action. Systems Thinking is part of the process of creating understanding and striking the right balance either making the strategy or problem-solving.

What are inside your ST toolbox? Everyone performs Systems Thinking to some degree, whether they're aware of it or not. Any new thing to acquire is a change. And to be accepted, it needs to fit the mental model of the person, meaning either she or he wants it in the first place, and so adapted her/his mind to accepting it and working enough to bend its mind to fit the new change, or the change is presented in a way that is already acceptable to the person. ST is also a set of tools that you can use - success comes from knowing when to apply which tool and when not to. A possible remedy is by using ST as a high level "philosophy" to create practical methodologies/ packages. It aims at solving a particular class of tasks in particular domains.

Systems Thinkers shape a worldview based on the realization of interconnectedness. Simply a lot of us as humans can and really think systemically, even if we are not aware of this fact or don't use the specific terms by default. There is a significant philosophical difference between different forms of Systems Thinking. The evidence of the evolution of Systems Thinking is more than an interdisciplinary activity, but a transdisciplinary one. Perhaps there is a measure of Systems Intelligence that can signify to what extent any individual is able to apply or understand systems concepts. Apply Systems Thinking to make a better world.